A coalition of communities and private organizations in western Kansas and southern Colorado has pledged to provide $9 million to keep Amtrak’s Southwest Chief passenger line on its current route through those areas and northern New Mexico.

The group announced Tuesday that Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which owns the tracks, has said it will contribute $2 million to the effort, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

The Associated Press
The New Mexico Department of Health is urging parents to make sure their children are up to date on vaccines.
In a press release noting that this is National Infant Immunization Week, Department of Health Secretary Retta Ward says parents planning to enroll their babies and young children in summer programs should ensure their children are vaccinated against diseases like whooping cough, measles and chicken pox.

THUMBS UP! 6,890 POUNDS OF TRASH
The Hermit’s Peak Watershed Alliance and close to 100 volunteers spent this past weekend picking up trash for the second annual Gallinas River Clean-up. Numerous organizations came together for the effort. The result: 6,890 pounds of trash and debris was collected from the Gallinas River. Thank you to everyone who took part.

What has become an obscure footnote in both our local and New Mexico history, is the futile Texas invasion of San Miguel county in 1841, or what most historians have downplayed as the Texas-Santa Fe Expedition. It occurred here five years before General Kearny, leading the Army of the West, proclaimed in Las Vegas on Aug. 15 1846, the occupation and annexation of New Mexico by the United States.

The Associated Press
The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer on a smaller Army (April 26):
It wasn’t long ago that the Army was 570,000 soldiers deep. With two wars underway and other commitments around the world, that’s what it took.
Now, with Iraq behind us and Afghanistan winding down, Washington budget-writers are calling for big military staffing cuts. The Army is already down to about 522,000 solders. The projection is 490,000 by late next year and 450,000 two years later.